Post Super Bowl Wrap Up

If you paid attention on Friday you would have done like The Peoples Champ and given up the 3 points and taken the G-Men +130 on the money line and been counting your quickly devaluing Greenbacks today. You might also have taken the Giants winning between 4 and 6 points and gotten 5-1 odds on that. Yes, Vegas was giving away free money this weekend folks but beware.  Vegas doesn't have all those nice new buildings and shopping malls because they lose more than they win. In other words, be careful out there. It's gonna get ugly for the handicappers.

With that said, after contemplating the game and the post game reactions  (including Gisele's tirade) here is what we learned.


1. Eli Manning is officially "The Most Clutch QB in the NFL" right now and on the short list of Greatest Comeback QB'a of All Time. You want to still say silly things like "Eli isn't Elite" and that he turns the ball over too much, had only one very good statistical year, has great receivers, blah blah blah. Fine. There are some statistical proofs one might bring to back up those idiotic claims, but what one can't do is deny Eli's greatness with the game on line. A record 8 Game Winning comeback drives this season and now 2 comebacks on the last possession to win 2 Super Bowls (and MVP awards) affirms this claim. In 8 playoff wins, Eli has gone head to head with Brady twice, Farve and Rodgers on the road, Romo and Matt Ryan (both who just as recently as this preseason were ranked higher than Eli by more than a few talking heads).
The People's Champ has always held the position that Eli is a top flight NFL QB and  a great leader of men. Eli just keeps proving the point more and more each year.

2. Justin Tuck is the Eli of Giants defensive players. Before the 2007 Super Bowl, Tuck was considered a very good up and coming defensive lineman. In Super Bowl XLII, Tuck was arguably the MVP; playing one of the great defensive games in Super Bowl history and basically nailing the door shut on the Patriots last drive with a critical sack of Brady. Turn ahead the clock to this year, a very trying regular season for Tuck, who by all accounts had a very disappointing year(mostly due to injuries) until Week 15 when he got healthy and not coincidentally, the Giants D became a championship D. He also played his best game in 5 years in the Super Bowl with 2 sacks, one being the initial safety and the other a sack on Brady on 3rd down which put the Pats in Hail Mary mode.

3. To win a Super Bowl in the "new rules" NFL you need a great QB. I've heard a lot of talk out there that Baltimore and San Fran could have easily been here and were just as good as the Giants or Patriots. Well, you know what? They weren't and as good as Alex Smith was this year and as good as Flacco played the final 3 Quarters against the Patriots, the difference was Manning and Brady. Look at the last 11 years of Super Bowl winners and here's who the QB's are: Brady 3, Eli 2, Big Ben 2, Rodgers, Peyton and Brees 1. Only Brad Johnson and his win in 2002 doesn't belong. In other words, if you want to win a Super, get yourself an Elite QB and your chances go up astronomically. Personally, I thought San Francisco were the best coached and best defensive team I saw all year. Houston was the best all around team I saw in the AFC (I'll give them a pass because they sustained season ending injuries to their QB and best defensive player). The Patriots were mediocre at best sans Brady. They had an awful defense and a pedestrian running game but still Brady put up enough points to win 13 games. Same with the Giants. Their running game was awful. Besides their punter, their Special Teams was anything but special. Their defense was horrible all season until Week 15. Rex freakin Grossman shredded the Giants Defense twice. But they had Eli, who when given the ball 8 times (including the playoffs) losing in the 4th Quarter, he delivered.

4. Tom Brady is still Great. Another idiotic subject of yahoos out there is that Brady is overrated, not clutch and hasn't won anything since spy-gate. While the latter might be true, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SPYGATE. It has to do with the fact that Brady continues to do more with less than any QB in NFL history. The problem with Brady is that he's too good. If Brady was merely mortal and winning 8-10 games a year with this rag tag squad and keeping his untainted 3-0 Super Bowl record, no one would say a peep. The problem is Brady carries teams on his back with no running games, no defense and one good WR (this year he did have the two TE's though). He has carried 3 totally different offensive type teams to Super Bowls (name me one other QB who has come close to that challenge) and if not for a dropped ball made 99 out of 100 times  by Welker and The Tyree Catch (which could have been called back for 3 holding penalties and 2 in the grasps calls) he would be the only QB with 5 Super Bowls and Mr. Montana would be know as the Greatest QB who ever lived that wasn't named Tom Brady.

5. Belichek still has it.  The legend that is Bill Belichek really began the day the NE Patriots and an unknown QB named Tom Brady upset the Greatest Show on Turf- the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. It was then that Belichek became known as the Master Game Planner- the Genius. Up to that point he had been a great defensive Co-Coordinator and Assistant Coach for the NY Giants and an unsuccessful coach with the Cleveland Browns. What changed that day was Belichek devised a game plan to hit the Rams receivers at the line (negating their huge speed advantage in a timing offensive scheme) and take Marshall Faulk (at the time the greatest fantasy football player of all time and the top offensive player in the NFL) out of the game by having 2-3 guys follow him at all times. NE would go on to win 2 more Super Bowls in the next 3 years and now people were talking about Belichek in the same sentence as Lombardi, Noll, Parcells, etc. All the accolades were deserved. However a funny thing happened along the way. The NFL changed the rules to make it incredibly harder to play certain type of defenses, NE defensive personnel got weaker and Belichek's once great penchant for drafting quality players late in the draft and filling in needs through free agency was waning. Well, he's still got it. As outlined in the Super Bowl preview, the Giants had far more talent. They also have an explosive offense with 2 great WR's and one good one. NE has been the weakest team all year against the pass with the worst secondary in the NFL. So what does Belichek do? He figures out a way to basically take Victor Cruz out of the game, eliminates any big plays by the Giants (except for the unbelievable throw and catch from Eli to Manningham) and then has the cajones to let the Giants score a TD and give Brady a chance with a minute left in the game. I thought this season, from beginning to end was his best job yet.


In the end the Giants are Super Bowl Champions for the second time in five years because they were able to do something no one else can. They figured out how to beat the Patriots. In the two Super Bowl seasons the Patriots were 32-2 against the NFL and 1-3 including two Super Bowl losses to the Giants. Figure out how to beat the Pats and there's a good chance you'll be wearing the ring.

Back in Business- The People's Super Bowl Pick

After yesterdays heart wrenching post, I felt it best to go back to my roots and start bringing The People's Blog back to The People. No, this isn't a one day "guest appearance" ala The Return of the Ultimate Warrior, and it's a far cry from the Ferris Buehller shill sure to be one of the best Super Bowl commercials even though everyone saw it already (thank you Honda for that much needed bathroom break in advance. I'll always have you in mind over Toyota and Nissan). Will The Champ post every day? Come on.....Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Creativity doesn't come in a bottle you know. With that we proceed.

I'm not going to break the game down like all the talking heads. You've heard all the angles, you've seen video, broken down the game tapes, listened to the crazy interviews at media day and even read poor Giselle's prayer to the Lord Above. No, I will tell you what will happen how it will happen and how at the end of the day, the Super Bowl Champ will be ____________.

To start, Boston has been a royal pain in the rear for New York for way to long, and despite 2007, 2004 really sticks in our craw. We could care less about the historic Red Sox collapse this past September/October (ok, that's a lie. We enjoyed it very much...) or that the Giants beat The Pats earlier this year with the JV starting. No. We need to bury Boston. Stick a fork in them and send the Patriots and Red Sox back to being the cursed franchises they always were.

NE last Super Bowl team was a squad that had a throwback defense- was tough, a team that would smack receivers down at the line, that was led by guys like Teddy Bruschi, Asante Samuel, Richard Seymour, Rodney Harrison and Mike Vrable, a team that intimidated, a team that stood toe to toe with the Greatest Show on Turf and came out standing. A team that is remarkably similar to this New York Giant squad.
This years version? Yes, they have the possible GOAT in Brady (as I have discussed prior), they have Belichek, who even though I think is slightly overrated is still an All Time great coach, they have the great Gronk- Hernandez TE combo; but in the end they lack toughness. They get pushed around. They get scored on. Even the GOAT gets a little frazzled when he gets hit.The toughest guy they have will be far from 100% (in Gronk).

The Giants? They are New York tough to the bone. They have a QB who personifies toughness. A guy a few years ago was being run out of town in ways that would embarrass Mark Sanchez. A guy that despite throwing 59 times and getting hit on approximately half those throws by the NFL's toughest and most turnover driven defense, kept coming back like Rocky Balboa, not turning it over and throwing for over 300 yards and 3 TD's and led his team to another NFC Championship ("he's not human" in Drago voice). They were battle tested all season, barely getting into the playoffs and then taking the toughest road possible (after beating a soft Atlanta squad- on a separate topic has there ever been a tough Atlanta squad in any sport?) by beating the defending World Champs and All World QB on their home turf and then doing the same to the NFL's toughest defense.The Pats? The best QB they since October was Tebow.

Did the Giants under achieve all season? Of course they have. Yes, they had huge injuries to Tuck and Osi but still. Everyone has big injuries. This is the National Football League for crying out loud! It's my biggest knock on why Coughlin cant be considered in the class of Belichek, Walsh, Parcells, et al.  His teams go to war with him but they also quit on him. Remember in 2007, he was on the verge of being fired before their great run. Still, when he gets the troops going, they go. And despite their 9-7 regular season record they have far more talent on both sides of the ball than does NE. It's not even close. If they put all their players in a pool and had a draft today, here's how it might come out.

1. Brady 2. Manning 3. Pierre Paul 4/5 Nicks/Cruz 6. Tuck 7. Gronk 8. Mayo 9. Osi 10. Light

Maybe you switch a guy here or there but generally the talent lies on the NY side of the ball. The toughness lies on the NY side of the ball. Even the GOAT is ofter now that he's married to Giselle (ok, I don't really believe it but you gotta love the New England paranoia that does) Experience? Even. Only advantage the Pats have are on Special teams as the Giants are very weak and vulnerable there. That's it. And I think the Giants find a way to adjust there.

At the end of the day, after all the wings, the beer, the stupid prop bets you made when you were  drinking too much and throwing around way too much testosterone, the New York Football Giants will once again be Kings of the Football Road.

ED NOTE: I am a full fledged Oakland Raider fan so no bias except a singular pure hatred of New England sports went into this post.

Giant Defeat- TPC Reveals the Real Reasons the Champs are Out

We watched the game. We heard all the pundits and talking heads. It was Eli's fault. It was Coughlin's fault. Spagnola's fault. Well, The People's Champ is going to break it down reason by reason.

1- Eli played awful. From the opening play, a great play design to free Steve Smith on a route that left him wide open, nothing between him and the End Zone. Eli threw just an ugly looking ball that under threw Smith that portended things to come. Whatever you want to say about the play calling, whatever you want to say about the defense taking the "gas of the pedal", if Eli makes that throw, the Giants go up 7-0 against a very shaky Philly offense, as indicated in the first half.
Eli's numbers were: 15-29 169 yards 2 INT's and a 40.7 QB rating. Although he had a statistically worse game in 2005 against the Panthers in the NFC Wild Card game (10-18 113 yards 3 INT's 35 QB rating), I contend when you take everything into consideration- his stature, the team, situation, experience- this was his worst game in his NFL career. This was a game the Eagles game plan was simple- "Eli, go ahead and beat us". Besides a brilliant 3rd down throw late in the game to Dominic Hixon and some nice crossing patterns with Boss, Eli was off all day and it validated the Eagles game plan.
Some have indicated (especially the Ducks- my long time nemesis) that Eli's lack of arm strength kills him late in the season in the cold and blustery winds of Giants Stadium. To date, statistically these critics are 100% on the ball, as Eli has been brilliant in his road playoff games (evidenced by last years Super Bowl MVP run) and his total incompetence in his two career home playoff games. His home December numbers are much worse than his road numbers during the same time period (although this year he showed much improvement at home in December, except this week-when it really mattered). Ignoring the fact that TPC has no evidence or case to base this on, I believe Eli will rebound and show he can win and lead this team to home playoff wins.

2- "Prevent Defense" to end the first half that gave the Eagles a Field Goal, the lead and their first sustainable offense. The Giants dominated the first half on both sides of the ball, despite Eli's putrid performance. The Eagles only score was the result of Eli's interception, that set up a Donovan McNabb QB sneak. To this point, the Eagles had 10 yards in total offense, plus a Giant safety. So what did the great wizardry of Spagnola and Coughlin's genius do? They took the pressure and heat off McNabb (which to that point produced a safety an INT and 10 total offensive yards), allowed him to breath and work underneath and gave the Eagles some life. Again, to that point the Giants were moving the ball on offense (except the INT, they controlled the line of scrimmage) totally dominated with their defense and even their special teams played great. That offensive possession gave the Eagles a lot more than 3 points and a halftime lead. it gave them life and it got McNabb back in some sort of rhythm. He did nothing to that point. This was the classic case of "don't let these guys stay in the game because they will think they can win it" game. To that point, if you looked at the Eagles bench, they were done. Why the great Spagnola (and I mean that in all seriousness) decided to call off the horses on that last drive is beyond understanding. It is also probably why (good news for Giant fans) Spags will be back in NY next year while Ryan will become the next Jets coach.

3- The offensive game plan- Anyone who has watched the Giants the last two years KNOWS the offense starts with Brandon Jacobs and the beating he gives the opposing defenses. I'm as big a supporter as one can be for Eli Manning, even I admit the offense starts with Jacobs. The success of Bradshaw and Ward is directly attributed to the pounding that Jacobs delivers to the defense. Yes, the fact that you landed on Boardwalk with 4 houses knocked you out of the game, but landing on New York Avenue and Marvin Gardens 3 or 4 times prior, is what led to your bank account getting to the point where Boardwalk can bankrupt you. So what do the Giants do? They split carries with Ward and Jacobs when Jacobs was abusing the Philadelphia defense when Ward was struggling to gain 2 or 3 yards. Jacobs has abused Philly every time they play. They are a defensive line that is susceptible to a power running attack and the Giants decided to bounce Jacobs to the outside and have Ward pound it to the inside. Just doesn't make sense. With all the criticism on Coughlin for his 3rd and 4th down play calling (I believe at the time he had no confidence in Eli at that point and was gripping at straws) this was his biggest mistake on the offensive side of the ball. If your the Giants, you have to pound Jacobs inside all day, until Philly can prove they can stop him. This would have worn down the Philly defense and allowed a shaky Eli (who actually looked decent in the 2nd Quarter) to settle in and not have to do too much in very tough conditions (for all the McNabb raving I have heard today, the guy played awful except for two drives and his safety and two picks could have cost him as much as Eli cost the Giants. Only difference was Samuel's got closer to the goal line than Robbins on the INT).

With two minutes left in the first half, I texted my friend and told him the Giants will dominate in the second half and Jacobs and Co. will wear the defense down. After the Eagles drove the field to the end the half, I said "I think the Giants might have just given these guys a new lease on life". Unfortunately, for the Giants- I was right.
With that being said, I think the best team on the field yesterday was the Giants. I felt they dominated the first half, but some key coaching decisions and the total ineffectiveness of Eli, allowed the Eagles to hang around long enough for McNabb to make a few plays and sometimes that's all you need.